Accreditation
In the United States, most state registration boards require a degree from an accredited professional degree program as a prerequisite for licensure. The NAAB, which is the sole agency authorized to accredit U.S. professional degree programs in architecture, recognizes professional degrees at three levels: the Bachelor of Architecture, the Master of Architecture, and the Doctor of Architecture. From a professional standpoint, all are equal, meaning each, if approved by NAAB, meets the requirement of an NAAB accredited professional degree. Catholic University's professional degree is at the Masters level. NAAB grants eight-year, three-year, or two-year terms of accreditation depending on the extent of a program's conformance with established educational standards. Accreditation teams visit every school to give their recommendation for NAAB approval. Catholic University was last visited in spring 2015 and received a full eight year accreditation approval.
At Catholic University, our M.Arch3 program is accredited on its own, while our M.Arch2 is accredited as a package with our pre-professional undergraduate degree program. The pre-professional degree is not, by itself, accredited by NAAB.